Suns' batters sluggish in defeat

Jeff Elliott

Monday

Apr 22, 2013 at 10:31 PM

Once the Jacksonville Suns batters catch up to the team's pitching staff, the Suns will likely be one of the best teams in the Southern League. But until that time, the Suns are going to need a "lights out" performance on the mound nearly every game.

The Suns pitching wasn't bad Monday afternoon, it just wasn't good enough for a win. The Chattanooga Lookouts used a four-run fourth inning that proved to be the difference in the visitors' 5-1 win over the Suns at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.

It marked the seventh time in the last eight games that the Suns have failed to score more than three runs in a game. Yet because Jacksonville pitchers have limited opponents to four runs or less in five of those games, the Suns have managed to split their last eight outings.

Slideshow: Suns vs. Lookouts at Bragan Field

Jacksonville was limited to six hits on Monday in losing for the third time in their last four games. This is after they were 9-4 and owned the best record among all Double-A minor league teams.

Newcomer Marcell Ozuna had two of the six hits and Zack Cox, the team's hottest hitter with a .340 average and who has hit safely in 12 of his last 13 games, used a ninth-inning double to keep his average among the league leaders.

Several others weren't as successful. Kyle Jensen, tied for the Southern League lead with 14 RBI, struck out four times. Mark Canha saw his eight-game hitting streak come to an end.

The Miami Marlins' top position player prospect, Christian Yelich, continued to struggle with a 1-for-5 effort to drop his batting mark to .154.

Yelich came to the plate as the tying run in the bottom of the ninth after the Suns had loaded the bases, but struck out for the second time in the game, giving him seven strikeouts in 13 official plate appearances in three games.

"I thought we were a little flat today overall," Suns manager Andy Barkett said. "We got down and we couldn't get much going offensively. It was cold, it was windy, not a great day to play baseball. But the conditions were the same for the other team. We just couldn't get anything going."

The Suns are tied with Mississippi for the second lowest team batting average (.231) in the league. Canha doesn't think the Suns' batting woes will continue much longer.

"We're not scoring a lot of runs right now, but we will," the Suns first baseman said. "We've got a lot of guys in the lineup that are good hitters. Yelich and Ozuna just got here and haven't had many at-bats. They're going to start hitting and when they do it's going to be scary."

Matthew Neil (0-2) took the loss for the Suns, allowing all four runs in the fourth inning. The Suns' bullpen allowed one run in four innings, but only because a routine double-play grounder to shortstop hit the edge of the grass and bounded over the head of Danny Black.

The teams meet in game four of the series Tuesday (7:05 p.m. with Suns right-hander Robert Morey (0-0, 5.87) opposing Lookouts lefty Rob Rasmussen (1-2, 5.78).

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.

Stay Connected

Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
The Florida Times-Union ~ 1 Riverside Ave., Jacksonville, FL 32202 ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service